Earth's Greatest Enemy: Q+A With Abby Martin and Aaron Kirshenbaum

We caught up with Abby Martin, director of Earth’s Greatest Enemy, and Aaron Kirshenbaum from CODEPINK, to chat about the film, how it’s been received so far, and their hopes for the future.

Q. Abby, can you tell me a little bit about the film? What inspired you to make it? 

Abby Martin, Director: The birth of my child during COVID made everything painfully clear. The climate crisis isn’t just being mishandled—it’s being ignored. The system is failing us on every front. The U.S. military, as I discovered, is a massive contributor to environmental destruction. From oil purchases to toxic waste at bases, the scale of the impact is unquantifiable. We wanted to create a holistic perspective, to explain not just what’s happening, but how we got here. And how do we get ourselves out of this?

Q. What was the most shocking thing you learned while making this film?

Abby: The sheer scope of the destruction and the myriad of ways that the U.S. military is destroying the planet. Ways I didn’t even think of before. Maintaining fighter jets, tanks, and other machinery poisons water sources near every base. And that’s only what we know is happening here. Just imagine what’s going on with no environmental regulations or red tape around the world. And the way that the Navy is legally permitted to harm, harass, or kill marine life though something called “takes”. Millions of dolphins, whales, sea lions are legally harmed each year. That’s devastating, but it’s only part of the story.

Q. How do current events factor into this?

Abby: For too long, we’ve been told that it’s on us. Like drinking out of paper straws, recycling or installing solar panels – it’s our choice. But the real perpetrators, the ruling class driving endless wars and environmental destruction, remain unaccountable. They are never even pointed out as the perpetrators. The system cannibalizes life for profit, and this film captures that reality as a kind of time capsule of the Biden administration, which is basically the status quo. And it actually is really terrifying, but I think this is the natural inevitability of a system built on profit– that’s the short-sighted insanity of the system. And this is where it leads us: mass sacrificing countries, human beings, lives, futures to feed a beast, to feed big oil, to feed a military machine. So we have to fight for life. There’s no other choice. And by the way, we’re all victims of this. Pollution has no borders. What’s happening in Iran is going to happen here. It already is.

Q. Aaron, what change do you hope the film inspires?

Aaron Kirshenbaum: We’ve realized that military and environmental issues are inseparable. You cannot be an environmentalist if you are not anti-imperialist. It’s completely incompatible. Wherever the U.S. military operates, the struggles are interconnected—anti-war, environmental, and labor movements overlap. Our goal is to break down silos, spark local campaigns, and show that collective action is possible.

Q. How has the tour been received so far?

Abby: This tour has been an opportunity to rewire people’s brains and make them realize they have agency in the best way possible. People walk in feeling powerless, but they leave empowered, armed with information and community. We’ve gone around the U.S., Europe, Australia—to all of the vessels of U.S. imperialism, where the doormats are laying down, letting this happen. And they’re ready to go. I mean, that’s the thing. Europe is ready to go. Australians are ready to go. They are absolutely horrified and they’re waiting for Americans to wake up and organize it. 

Q. Aaron: We’ve been distributing flyers, stickers, connecting people with petitions, and linking local environmental struggles, like data centers, to the larger military-industrial ecosystem. That’s the thing, these fights are winnable. And then the victories will continue to motivate us.

Q. What should readers do next?

Abby: First and foremost, we need support. The film is so grassroots and it deserves more exposure and more help. This isn’t just a movie – it’s a movement. Amplify the film, and get involved however you can. Share it, organize screenings, join local campaigns. The planet is counting on it.